Vanna White Pulls Off Heart-Melting Surprise at Fan’s Wedding: ‘It Was So Special’ (Exclusive)
The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ icon made two unsuspecting brides’ dreams come true in a moment so sweet it left the whole room in ‘happy tears.’
Some people win a jackpot. Others score a beach wedding in paradise. But if you’re really lucky, Vanna White appears out of thin air to walk you to your “I do.”
On Saturday, October 25, the 68-year-old Wheel of Fortune legend swapped the puzzle board for palm trees, surprising two brides mid-ceremony in the Bahamas. “I’m about to surprise some people, so shhh,” she whispers in a clip posted on Instagram.
The camera pans to the brides — smiling, clutching their bouquets — before White steps into frame like a dream sequence. “Hey girls, how are you?” she says, resting a hand on each shoulder. One bride turns, freezes, then gasps, “Oh my god!!”
“I’m going to walk you guys down the aisle,” the TV icon says. “I’m going to take you to your men.” Cue the tears. The brides beam, the crowd cheers, and White escorts them to their grooms.
The surprise moment happened during the World Tournament of Slots, a five-day celebration hosted by playSTUDIOS at Atlantis Paradise Island. The invite-only event gathered top myVIP players for the chance to spin their way to a $1 million grand prize. White was there to help crown the winner, but her wedding cameo instantly stole the show. “I had tears in my eyes watching this wedding,” she told Parade exclusively. “To see these brides walk out and be able to connect them with their soon-to-be husbands at that moment was so special to me. I love doing things like this. It just warms my heart.”
Of course, this isn’t her first brush with romance. Earlier this year, White helped pull off a surprise proposal on Wheel of Fortune’s 50th anniversary. “We had a girl that was playing, and her boyfriend proposed to her on the show,” she recalled. “It was so cute. It was so touching. And obviously it was a secret — he couldn’t tell anybody! And then at the end of the show, he came out and got down on one knee and proposed to her. It was so special.” When asked if more weddings might be in her future, she didn’t hesitate: “Maybe. I like them — I’m crying happy tears!”
One of the grooms, Ben from Minnesota, told Parade that the moment was “next-level.” He and his now-wife Ashley met years ago as nurses, bonding over a shared love of a PlayStudios slot game. “We’d sit side by side spinning the reels and talking about everything under the sun,” Ben said. “Those conversations grew deeper, the laughter came easier, and before long, we realized we’d found our soulmates.”
The couple, along with Eileen and Jim — the other pair selected through WTOS promos — were “completely shocked” when White appeared before them. “Everything about that day was magic,” Ben added. “The team at PlayStudios went above and beyond, making every detail thoughtful and personal. They couldn’t have been more gracious, and the entire experience felt like something out of a dream.”
While Eileen and Jim didn’t meet through a slot game, their love story was years in the making and just as sweet. “We met on a cold, drizzling evening — January 24, 2008 — over directions to a new apartment complex. We fell in love because my love for home chicken noodle soup and homemade bread smothered in real Irish butter,” the newly married bride revealed. Jim asked to take her to dinner, but Eileen wasn’t quite convinced yet. A week later, her doorbell rang. “I open the door and there’s a box with the best soup next to my mama’s homemade bread and the clincher was all that wonderful butter,” she laughed. “I melted instantly. He called two days later, and we’ve been together side by side since.”
When it came time for their Bahamas ceremony, Eileen said she didn’t even realize White was the one linking arms with her until she felt a soft hand wrap around her waist. “I was in instant shock,” she recalled. “She was Vanna White… I’m hallucinating… I’m simply seeing things, then I said, ‘I’m the luckiest girl in the whole USA.’”
PLAYSTUDIOS Head of Corporate Marketing David Pascal said the wedding magic wasn’t planned, but it was exactly the kind of moment they hope to deliver. “What was planned in advance was a team that is empowered to create moments and opportunities to surprise and delight our players in ways that are totally unexpected,” he told Parade. When one bride hinted she wanted to get married in the Bahamas — and then another did too — the team knew they had to make it special. “At that point it was game on,” Pascal said. “We had to find a way to make the ceremonies truly special, as if a Bahamas wedding wasn’t special enough. So we thought, what could possibly be any better than getting Vanna to the Bahamas to walk the two brides down the aisle?”
Pascal explained that White even flew in overnight between Wheel of Fortune tapings for the surprise appearance. “It speaks volumes to who she truly is and why everyone loves her so much,” he added. “And then, as a little sign that we did a good thing, a rainbow appeared at the end of the wedding ceremony, something that had a very special family meaning to one of the grooms. That part, by the way, was also unplanned.”